ISSN 2320 2602

Volume 4 No.4, April 2015

Journal
of Advances
inComputer
Computer
Science
and Technology
T. EstherInternational
Dyana et al., International
Journal
of Advances in
Science
and Technology,
4(4), April 2015, 63 - 69
Available Online at http://www.warse.org/ijacst/static/pdf/file/ijacst05442015.pdf

A Secure Data Storage and Trustworthy Resource Sharing In

Cloud Computing Environment
T. Esther Dyana1, S. Maheswari2
PG Student, Nandha Engineering College (Autonomous), Erode, estherdyana20@gmail.com
2
Associate Professor, Nandha Engineering College (Autonomous), Erode, maheswarinec@gmail.com
1

The steganography technique is used to hide

secret messages in other messages, such that the
secrets very existence is concealed. Generally the
sender writes an innocuous message and then
conceals a secret message in a text, image, audio or
video and then encodes the data that are hosted by the
data owners and the watermarking technique is to
decode the data that is to view who are all the
authorized user access the owners data. This would
enhance the security of the cloud user and owner.

ABSTRACT
Cloud Computing is an internet based computing
where virtual shared servers provide software,
infrastructure, platform, devices and many other
resources and hosting to customers on a pay-as-youuse basis. Cloud computing customers do not own the
physical infrastructure rather they rent the usage from
a third-party provider. Data owners host their data on
cloud servers and users can access the data from
cloud servers. Due to the data outsourcing it
introduces some new security challenges, which
requires an auditing service to check the data
integrity and confidentiality in the cloud. The
steganography technique is used to encode the data
that are hosted by the data owners and the
watermarking technique is to decode the data that is
to view who are all the authorized user access the
owners data. This would enhance the security of the
cloud user and owner.

The cloud owners should also check whether

their data are accessed by the authorized users. The
attackers could also try to gain some information
from the data owners. For that instance, whenever the
owner wants to store the information on the cloud
they should encrypt the data and store. It will protect
the data from both the dishonest cloud service
provider and the attackers.
2. RELATED WORK

Key Words: Attacks, Security, Steganography,

Watermarking.

Steganography is an art that involves

communication of secret data and an effort to conceal
the existence of the embedded information. Some of
them used in steganography are image, audio, video
or TCP/IP header file. Combining secret image with
the carrier image gives the hidden image [1], [2]. To
protect customers confidential data involved in the
computations [3] keep both the sensitive input and
output of the computation private.

1. INTRODUCTION
Cloud storage is an important service of cloud
computing, which allows data owners to move data
from their local computing systems to the cloud.
More and more owners start to store the data in the
cloud. However, this new paradigm of data hosting
service also introduces new security challenges.
Owners would worry that the data could be lost in the
cloud. This is because data loss could happen in any
infrastructure, no matter what high degree of reliable
measures cloud service providers would take.
Sometimes, cloud service providers might be
dishonest. They could discard the data that have not
been accessed or rarely accessed to save the storage
space and claim that the data are still correctly stored
in the cloud. Therefore, owners need to be convinced
that the data are correctly stored in the cloud.

The comparison of different techniques for

steganography in images are described in [4], [5]
explains each with its advantages and pitfalls and the
Blowfish Algorithm [6] used for encrypting purpose.
The vendor has to provide some assurance for
security of data in the cloud computing [7]. Using
homomorphic encryption and secure multiparty
computation, cloud servers may perform regularly
structured computation on encrypted data, without
access to decryption keys [8]. The auditing protocol
is to support the data dynamic operations, which is
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T. Esther Dyana et al., International Journal of Advances in Computer Science and Technology, 4(4), April 2015, 63 - 69
efficient and provably secure in the random oracle
model [9].
Using automatic blocker [11] for privacy
preserving public auditing for data storage security in
cloud computing and [12] solves the problems in
privacy preserving data mining, collision avoidance
in communications and distributed database access
[13] propose taxonomy of security in cloud
computing and [14] propose a different approach for
securing data in the cloud using offensive decoy
technology and monitor data access in the cloud and
detect abnormal data access patterns. Privacy as a
Service (PasS) provides a privacy feedback process
which informs users of the different privacy
operations applied on their data and makes them
aware of any potential risks that may jeopardize the
confidentiality of their sensitive information [15].
3. LOGGING MECHANISM:

The Logger Structure

Log Record Generation
Dependability of Logs
JARs Availability
Log Correctness

Figure 1 The Logger Structure

3.1 The Logger Structure:

A Java policy specifies which permissions

are available for a particular piece of code in a Java
application environment. The permissions expressed
in the Java policy are in terms of File System
Permissions. Moreover, the outer JAR is also in
charge of selecting the exact inner JAR according to
the identity of the entity who requests the data.

We leverage the programmable capability of

JARs to conduct automated logging. A logger
component is a nested Java JAR file which stores a
users data items and corresponding log files.
The Figure 1 describes the main
responsibility of the outer JAR. It handles validation
of entities which want to admittance the data stored
in the JAR file. In our perspective, the data owners
may not know the accurate CSPs that are going to
handle the data. Hence, authentication is specified
according to the servers functionality (which we
assume to be known through a lookup service), rather
than the servers URL or identity. For example, a
policy may state that Server X is allowed to
download the data if it is a storage server. As
discussed below, the outer JAR may also have the
access control functionality to enforce the data
owners requirements, specified as Java policies, on
the usage of the data.

Each inner JAR contains the encrypted data, class

files to facilitate repossession of log files and display
enclosed data in a suitable format, and a log file for
each encrypted item. We support two options:
Pure Log. To record every access to the
data stored in cloud. The log files are used
for pure auditing function that is very
helpful for the data owners for their data
integrity and confidentiality.
Access Log. It has two functions: logging
actions and enforcing access control. In case
an access request is denied, the JAR will
record the time when the request is made. If
the access request is granted, the JAR will
additionally record the access information
along with the duration for which the access
is allowed.

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No secret keys are ever stored in the system.
The outer JAR may contain one or more inner JARs,
in addition to a class file for authenticating the
servers or the users, another class file verdict the
correct inner JAR, a third class file which checks the
JVMs validity using oblivious hashing. Further, a
class file is used for managing the Graphical User
Interface (GUI) for user authentication and the Java
Policy.

time. The duration for which the access is allowed is

calculated using the Network Time Protocol. The
View access right not combined with the Download.
Location-based access:
The Pure Log will record the location of the
entities. The Access Log will verify the location for
each of such access. The access is granted and the
data are made available only to entities located at
locations specified by the data owner.

3.2 Log Record Generation

Log records are generated by the logger
component. Logging occurs at any access to the data
in the JAR, and new log entries are appended
sequentially, in order of creation LR=(r1; . . . ; rki).
Each record ri is encrypted individually and
appended to the log file. To ensure the correctness of
the log records, we verify the access time, locations
as well as actions. The most critical part is to log the
actions on the users data. In the current system, we
support four types of actions, i.e., Act has one of the
following four values: view, download, timed access,
and Location-based access.

3.3 Dependability of Logs

First, an attacker may try to evade the
auditing mechanism by storing the JARs remotely,
corrupting the JAR, or trying to prevent them from
communicating with the user. Second, the attacker
may try to compromise the JRE used to run the JAR
files.
3.4 Jars Availability
To protect against attacks perpetrated on
offline JARs, the CIA includes a log harmonizer
which has two main responsibilities: to deal with
copies of JARs and to recover corrupted logs.

View:
The entity (e.g., the cloud service provider)
can only read the data but is not allowed to save a
raw copy of it anywhere permanently. Recall that the
data are encrypted and stored in the inner JAR. When
there is a view-only access request, the inner JAR
will decrypt the data on the fly and create a
temporary decrypted file. The decrypted file will then
be displayed to the entity using the Java application
viewer in case the file is displayed to a human user.

Each log harmonizer is in charge of copies

of logger components containing the same set of data
items. The harmonizer is implemented as a JAR file.
It does not contain the users data items being
audited, but consists of class files for both a server
and a client processes to allow it to communicate
with its logger components. The harmonizer stores
error correction information sent from its logger
components, as well as the users IBE decryption
key, to decrypt the log records and handle any
duplicate records.

Download:
The entity is allowed to save a raw copy of
the data and the entity will have no control over this
copy either log records concerning access to the
copy. If Pure Log is adopted, the users data will be
directly downloadable in a pure form using a link.
When an entity clicks this download link, the JAR
file associated with the data will decrypt the data and
give it to the entity in raw form. In case of Access
Logs, the entire JAR file will be given to the entity.

3.5 Log Correctness

For the logs to be correctly recorded, it is
essential that the JRE of the system on which the
logger components are running remain unmodified.
To verify the integrity of the logger component, we
rely on a two-step process:
1) We repair the JRE before the logger is
launched and any kind of access is given, so as to
provide guarantees of integrity of the JRE.

Timed access:
This action is combined with the view-only
access, and it indicates that the data are made
available only for a certain period of time. The Pure
log will just record the access starting time and its
duration, while the Access Log will enforce that the
access is allowed only within the specified period of

2) We insert hash codes, which calculate the

hash values of the program traces of the modules
being executed by the logger component. This helps
us detect modifications of the JRE once the logger
component has been launched, and are useful to
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T. Esther Dyana et al., International Journal of Advances in Computer Science and Technology, 4(4), April 2015, 63 - 69
verify if the original code flow of execution is
altered.

4.1.2 Classifications of Steganographic Techniques

Classifications of steganographic techniques
based on the types of cover files and data hiding are
shown in Figure 2and Figure 3. Almost all digital file
formats can be used for steganography, however only
those with a high degree of redundant bits are
preferred. The larger size of audio and video files
makes them less popular as compared to images. In
Spatial domain, cover-image is first decomposed into
bits planes and then least significant bit (LSB) [10] of
the bits planes are replaced with the secret data bits.

4. STEGANOGRAPHY AND
WATERMARKING
Watermarking and steganography are
processes in which the digital image is changed in a
way that one may see the background image or the
text without any kind of dishonesty in the image.
4.1 Steganography
Steganography is changing the image in a
way that only the sender and the intended recipient is
able to detect the message sent through it. It is
invisible, and thus the detection is not easy. It is a
better way of sending secret messages than encoded
messages or cryptography as it does not attract
attention to itself.

Advantages are high embedding capacity,

ease of implementation and imperceptibility of
hidden data, higher level of robustness against simple
statistical analysis. Unfortunately, it lacks high
embedding. In compression domain, secret data is
embedded into compression codes of the cover-image
which is then sent to the receiver. The major
drawback is its vulnerability to various simple
statistical analysis methods. Frequency domain
embedding techniques, which first transforms the
cover-image into its frequency domain, secret data is
then embedded in frequency coefficients.

There are many ways in which

steganography is done. The messages appear as
articles, images, lists, or sometimes invisible ink is
used to write between the lines. Steganography is
achieved by concealing the information in computer
files. Sometimes steganographic codes are inside the
transport layer like an image file, document
file, media files, etc. Due to the large size of the
media files, they are considered ideal for
steganography.
4.1.1 Features of Steganographic Techniques
Steganographic techniques have various
features which are dealt in [2] characterizes their
strengths and weaknesses. Features include:
Embedding capacity: The amount of data
that can be inserted into the cover-media
without deteriorating its integrity.
Perceptual transparency: To avoid
suspicion the embedding should occur
without significant degradation or loss of
perceptual quality of the cover media.
Robustness: The ability of embedded data
to remain intact if the stego-image
undergoes various transformations such as
scaling, rotation, cropping or compression.
Tamper resistance: The difficulty to alter
or forge a message once it is embedded in a
cover-media, such as replacing a copyright
mark with the one claiming legal ownership.
Computational complexity: Computational
complexity of steganography technique
employed for encoding and decoding is
another consideration and should be given
importance.

Figure 2 Classifications Of Steganographic

Techniques.

Figure 3 Basic Spatial Domain Data Hiding

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An improved algorithm has been adopted in
literature [6], the secret image is first encrypted by
using BLOWFISH algorithm which has very good
performance and is a most powerful technique
compared to other Algorithms.

4.1.3 Applications

Steganography is used in modern printers.

It has been used allegedly by terrorists.
It is allegedly used by intelligence services.

Captioning of pictures, useful for

professional photographers and news
agencies.
Feature tagging in digital images, so that
parts of them can be highlighted and
described briefly.
Indexing of stream data, as audio files,
without the need of an additional
communication channel.

4.3 ADVANTAGES

4.2 Watermarking

One of the main innovative features of the

CIA framework lies in its ability of
maintaining lightweight and powerful
accountability that combines aspects of
access control, usage control and
authentication.
Providing defenses against man in middle
attack, dictionary attack, Disassembling
Attack, Compromised JVM Attack.
The ability of invisibility in steganography.
The ability to embed information in any type
of file format.
Steganography have relatively high data
rate.
Its Suitable for limited and large number of
storages.

Watermarking is used to verify the identity

and authenticity of the owner of a digital image. It is
a process in which the information which verifies the
owner is embedded into the digital image or signal.
These signals could be either videos or pictures or
audios. For example, famous artists watermark their
pictures and images. If somebody tries to copy the
image, the watermark is copied along with the image.
Watermarking is of two types; visible watermarking
and invisible watermarking.
4.2.1 Visible Watermarking
As the name suggests, visible watermarking
refers to the information visible on the image or
video or picture. Visible watermarks are typically
logos or text. For example, in a TV broadcast, the
logo of the broadcaster is visible at the right side of
the screen.
4.2.2 Invisible Watermarking

5. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS:

Invisible watermarking refers to adding information

in a video or picture or audio as digital data. It is not
visible or perceivable, but it can be detected by
different means. It may also be a form or type of
steganography and is used for widespread use. It can
be retrieved easily.

Our approach permits the information owner to not

solely audit his content however additionally enforces
sturdy back-end protection if required. Moreover, one
amongst the most options of our work is that it
permits owner to audit even those copies of its data
that were created while not his information. Within
the future, we have a tendency to decide to refine our
approach to verify the integrity of the JRE and also
the authentication of JARs. This analysis is geared
toward providing software system tamper resistance
to Java applications. Within the future, we have a
tendency to decide to style a comprehensive and a lot
of generic object-oriented approach to facilitate
autonomous protection of traveling content. And to
support a range of security policies, like assortment
policies for text files, usage management for
executable, and generic responsibility and beginning
controls.

Some of the attacks in watermarking are robustness

attack,
presentation,
interpretation
and
implementation attacks.
4.2.3 Applications:

It is used for copyright protection.

It is used for source tracing.
Annotation of photographs. Adding identity
information in medical images, so that there
is no need of external procedures to insure
the right binding between identities and
pictures.
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5.

6.

7.

Figure 4 Average time to merge files

6. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
In this study allows the data owner to not only audit
his content but also enforce strong back-end
protection if needed. Moreover, one of the main
features of our work is that it enables the data owner
to audit even those copies of its data that were made
without his knowledge. In the future, we plan to
refine our approach to verify the integrity of the JRE
and the authentication of JARs. This research is
aimed at providing software tamper resistance to Java
applications. In the long term, we plan to design a
comprehensive and more generic object-oriented
approach to facilitate autonomous protection of
traveling content. We would like to support a variety
of security policies, like indexing policies for text
files, usage control for executables, and generic
accountability and provenance controls.

8.

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